If all goes as per plans, the Kochi Corporation may soon sport a new look with the authorities pepping up the move to undertake renovation work at the Corporation office, something that has long been pending. A meeting will be held this week to discuss on how to carry on with the renovation works.

The Forest Industries Travancore (FTI) has submitted a  detailed project report (DPR) to the authorities regarding the renovation works and tenders were floated. However, FIT could not find anyone suitable to award the work yet. “This is the third time they are inviting bidders. If they cannot find a suitable one, the Corporation will have to allot the work to a contractor who can do the job specified in the DPR,” said Works Standing Committee chairperson Soumini Jain.

She added that these issues will be discussed in the meeting to be held next week so that the work is carried out without further delay. “We were waiting for Mayor Tony Chammany to come back from Italy to discuss this. The project is crucial for the launch of e-governance and has been pending long. This week, we plan to discuss how to kickstart it,” said Soumini Jain.The renovation projects was part of the e-governance programmes  undertaken by the Corporation.

The ` 3-crore multi-year project was aimed to make the Corporation a digitally advanced and completely paper-less office. Infrastructure of the old corporation building demanded a wide variety of alterations to install the e-governance.

The renovations include modernised networked workstations, associated electrical re-wiring and new furniture. Plans were also mooted to turn the Corporation offices into air-conditioned rooms for the health of over 400 computers brought as part of the modernisation project. The project was awarded `90 lakhs from plan funds.